Rom 1 | ISV | STEP | The Letter of Paul to the Romans Greetings from Paul From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,

Romans 1

The rest were to follow, some on planks and others on various pieces of the ship. In this way all of them got to shore safely.Acts 27:22

1 The Letter of Paul to the RomansGreetings from PaulFrom ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks From} Paul, a servant ^{▼▼Or slave} of Jesus Christ, ^{▼▼Other mss. read Christ Jesus} called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God,Acts 9:15; 13:2; 22:21; 1Cor 1:1; Gal 1:1, 15; 1Tim 1:11; 2:7; 2Tim 1:11 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy ScripturesActs 26:6; Rom 3:21; 16:26; Gal 3:8; Titus 1:2 3 regarding ^{▼▼Lit. About} his Son, who according to the flesh was a descendant of David,Matt 1:6, 16; Luke 1:32; John 1:14; Acts 2:30; Gal 4:4; 2Tim 2:8 4 and who according to the spirit ^{▼▼Or Spirit} of holiness was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead—Jesus Christ our Lord.Acts 13:33; Heb 9:14

5 Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name.Acts 6:7; 9:15; Rom 12:3; 15:15; 16:26; 1Cor 15:10; Gal 1:15; 2:9; Eph 3:8 6 You, too, are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome ^{▼▼Other mss. lack in Rome} who are loved by God and called to be holy. ^{▼▼Or saints} May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be yours!Rom 9:24; 1Cor 1:2-3; 2Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; 1Thes 4:7

8 Paul's Prayer and Desire to Visit RomeFirst of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world.Rom 16:19; 1Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; Col 1:3-4; 1Thes 1:2, 8 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ^{▼▼Lit. in the gospel} of his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention youActs 27:23; Rom 9:1; 2Cor 1:23; Phil 1:8; 1Thes 2:5; 3:10; 2Tim 1:3 10 in my prayers at all times, asking that somehow by God's will I may at last succeed in coming to you.Rom 15:23, 32; 1Thes 3:10; James 4:15 11 For I am longing to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong,Rom 15:29 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.Titus 1:4; 2Pet 1:1

13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.Acts 16:7; Rom 15:23; Phil 4:17; 1Thes 2:18 14 Both to Greeks and to barbarians, ^{▼▼I.e. uncultured people} both to wise and to foolish people, I am a debtor.1Cor 9:16 15 That is why I am so eager to proclaim the gospel to you who live in Rome, ^{▼▼Other mss. lack who live in Rome} too.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, ^{▼▼Other mss. read gospel of Christ} because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well.Ps 40:9-10; Mark 8:38; Luke 2:30-32; 24:47; Acts 3:26; Rom 2:9; 1Cor 1:18; 15:2; 2Tim 1:8 17 For in it God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.” ^{▼▼Hab 2:4}Hab 2:4; John 3:36; Rom 3:21; Gal 3:11; Phil 3:9; Heb 10:38

18 God's Wrath against Sinful HumanityFor God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth.Acts 17:30; Eph 5:6; Col 3:6 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them.John 1:9; Acts 14:17 20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people ^{▼▼Lit. they} are without excuse.Ps 19:1; Acts 14:17; 17:27

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, ^{▼▼Lit. they became worthless in their thoughts} and their ignorant hearts were darkened.2Kings 17:15; Jer 2:5; Eph 4:17-18 22 Though claiming to be wise, they became foolsJer 10:14 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.Deut 4:16; Ps 106:20; Isa 40:18, 26; Jer 2:11; Ezek 8:10; Acts 17:29

24 For this reason, God gave them over to impurity to follow the lusts ^{▼▼Lit. to impurity in the lusts} of their hearts and to dishonor their bodies with one another.Lev 18:22; Ps 81:12; Acts 7:42; 1Cor 6:18; Eph 4:18-19; 1Thes 4:4; 2Thes 2:11-12; 1Pet 4:3 25 They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.Isa 44:20; Jer 10:14; 13:25; Amos 2:4; 1Thes 1:9; 1John 5:20

26 For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions. Even their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural.Lev 18:22-23; Eph 5:12; Jude 1:10 27 In the same way, their males also abandoned the natural sexual function of females and burned with lust for one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received in themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion. ^{▼▼Lit. for their deviation}

28 Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to retain the full knowledge of God, God gave them over to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done.Eph 5:4 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.Ps 50:18; Hos 7:3; Rom 2:2; 6:21